May 25, 2011

It's so fun to decorate for the holidays...but I don't love to spend the money!What I do love is creating decorations using materials I already have on hand! Since I'm a scrapbooker from way back when, I have plenty of red and blue paper scrapbook paper on hand.

Here's a tutorial on how to make a patriotic garland perfect for Memorial Day and the 4th of July. I used standard 12 inch by 12 inch scrapbook paper...various patterns of reds and blue. For the white paper, I had to be a little more creative and used plain white printer paper. I created simple designs with red and blue crayons.

After cutting 12 x 12 paper in half, I cut about 1 inch off the top of each half leaving 2 pieces of paper approx. the size of 11 x 6. You can make 2 stars from this.

Position patterned side of paper facing toward your right hand when cutting angle 1 inch down from top, cutting up to the top left corner. Depending which way you have the folds facing when you cut will determine the shape of the star. You can do it either way. But be consistent with all the stars. After you cut one end, turn the other end upright and do the same thing.

This gummy blue stuff that you use to hang posters on a wall works perfect for surfaces like brick. Make sure you remove any dust on the surface or the gummy blue stuff won't stick.

I am so delighted how this turned out!! It is perfect for my Memorial Day picnic and Blue Ribbon pie competition I am hosting at my house this Saturday. It just adds that finishing touch to my mantel.

Out takes:

As I was hanging up the garland on the mantel, one of our hens flew up and perched on the window sill outside. It scared me half to death because there's not much room for her to perch and she was flapping her wings and scratching and trying to clutch the window sill. It was pretty comical. She finally got a good hold and stayed there for a while. I swear...my chickens are the NOSIEST things ever! They make me laugh!

About Me

I am a modern day homemaker with an old school twist, a stay-at-home mom to our two boys, and a devoted wife to my wonderful hubby. I love keeping things a little on the old fashioned side such as cooking the majority of our meals from scratch, but not everything. We raise chickens for our eggs and I keep a small herb garden. If you are looking for perfect, you won't find it here. I enjoy hand embroidery, quilting, cooking, baking, reading, blogging, coffee and chocolate. These are a few of my favorite things!